REVIEW: Cherry MX Board 6.0

August 8, 2017 / 6:10 PM

By: Zack O'Neill

Share:

DISCLAIMER: This keyboard was provided by Cherry as a review unit. This does not affect the review in any way.

Mechanical keyboards are great. I think I’ve gotten that point across after writing a few articles and reviews on them, so it should come as no surprise that when Cherry reached out to send us a new keyboard for review, that I was super hyped to try it out. Previously they sent us the Cherry MX Board Silent, which I wasn’t overly impressed by because of some design choices, but this keyboard seems to take nearly everything I complained about and completely fix it. Let’s take a closer look.

Comfort

Unlike the last one, this keyboard does feature a wrist rest, which is undoubtedly a massive improvement. It’s a little large, but that’s not a bad thing, considering the wrist rest on my K70 RGB sometimes feels a little small. The rest is completely easily detachable if you’re not really feeling it at the time; all you have to do is pull it off so that the magnet connecting it comes apart. Speaking of that magnet, I was really surprised at how well it stays on there despite how much I slid the keyboard around. Cherry really must have just found the perfect form factor for it.

On top of what they’ve already done for comfort, the text on the keycaps is embedded rather than embossed, so you don’t have to feel the letters coming off of the keys any time your fingers are on them. The MX Board 6.0 features Cherry MX Reds key switches, which just happen to be my preferred type, so while they lack the clicky feel of switches like Blues or Browns, you still get that satisfying audible click and a direct linear press. Cherry MX Reds have become pretty popular in gaming keyboards, which is absolutely what this on is marketed as, but if you’re looking for a good gaming keyboard, I’d say weigh your options and try out a few different key switches to see what you personally prefer.

Functionality

One of the main selling points of this keyboard is Cherry’s RealKey technology that allows for minimal latency when pushing info to your PC by using an analogue format rather than the digital one that’s used in many modern keyboards. According to Cherry, the delay is less than one millisecond, while most modern keyboards have a delay of 20 milliseconds. I could absolutely believe that, as I can’t feel or see any delay from the keyboard to the monitor, but I can’t think of any keyboard where I’ve been able to notice that difference. A lot of that delay also depends on the response time of your monitor as well. Obviously the lower the response time, the better, but making that the primary focus of the marketing for this keyboard seems a little strange, given that you probably will never really notice much delay out of a keyboard anyway unless you’re a pro Starcraft player, but hey maybe the primary audience for this is e-sports teams.

One of the first things I noticed when I took the keyboard out of the box was the cherry key in the top right corner next to the media control keys. I had absolutely no idea what it was at first, only that it turned blue when I pressed it. After going through the instruction manual, I found that it was meant to allow you to toggle between two usage modes: Office, and Performance. Office mode is meant for text entry and disables entries from being duplicated by holding the key down for too long, while Performance mode sends all signals from key presses to the PC in real time and disables the Windows key, along with the functions that you get from pressing ALT+F4, ALT+TAB, and CTRL+ALT+DEL. Performance mode is meant for applications where fast response time is absolutely needed, like games. Personally, I just left it in Office mode a lot of the time because I’ve been using it for my VR PC, and since a lot of those games are in early access, I get a lot of crashes, so I need those Windows functions. However, it is very nice having it in Performance mode when you are using the keyboard for games where you may accidentally hit the Windows key.

Since this is marketed towards gamers, it would incomplete without some kind of backlighting to make it flashy as all hell. The MX Board 6.0 does feature red backlighting, with certain keys turning blue to indicate a function has been toggled. As I explained in my MX Board Silent review, backlighting is a good thing. Whether you’re using at an office or at home, there’s no harm in there being some kind of backlight. The only complaint I really have about the keyboard’s functionality is that there’s no USB passthrough. That really would change a lot for me, given that I use it in my living room on my coffee table. If it had a USB passthrough for my mouse, it would be so much easier than routing a second USB extension cable across the room, but that’s my own personal use case and definitely does not apply to everyone.

Overall this keyboard functions very well and as far as I know may be the fastest mechanical keyboard ever made. Cherry knows what they’re doing, so I’m going to trust them on that less than one millisecond claim.

Build

Okay, now I’m just going to take a second and gush about how well this thing is built. It’s got an aluminum frame, a threaded cable, a really nice feeling wrist rest, and the stands put it up at the perfect height. The German engineering on this thing really shows through, and it just exudes quality. This is such a nice keyboard. If there is one complaint I’ll make about the build though, it’s that the wrist rest catches way too much dust and crumbs in it. Like I said, I have this thing on my coffee table, so if I’m using it to browse Youtube while eating dinner, some things are going to fall into that wrist rest and get caught in the MX logos that cover the rubber. Keep a can of Dust Off nearby if you do decide to buy this keyboard.

Conclusion

The Cherry MX Board 6.0 is a very, very nice keyboard with a lot going for it if you’re looking for a designer model with very little latency. Just keep in mind that like many other mechanical gaming keyboards, it’s really expensive. Right now on Amazon it’s going for a $177.95, and that’s a drop from the previous price. If you like mechanical keyboards enough to pay that much for them, I’d say go for it, but check out some of the other options like the K70 LUX RGB first.

About the author /

Zack started working at VGTribune at 15 years old and has been gaming since the the age of 2. He is currently in college studying film and technology with plans to continue in the game industry. He’s also really good at Counter Strike.